Everyone will point to different things when it comes to the Boston Bruins' recent five-game winning streak. You could argue that the schedule has been a bit soft, as they've had four games against teams well out of a playoff spot. Others will also say that Mason Lohrei is a bust and his absence is the reason the Bruins are doing so well.
While the Lohrei conversation is part of it due to its impact on the defense as a whole, it's time to start giving Marco Sturm credit for the system he is building and the players' ability to buy into it. There were some rough nights towards the start of the season when the defense was in shambles, but the past five games have shown a team that has fully bought in.
Bruins buying into Marco Strum's system
The Carolina Hurricanes were a tough test for the Bruins, and they did a great job of shutting down that offense. However, the real test will come on Saturday night when they face the league's top offense. The Toronto Maple Leafs have been a good measuring stick for the Bruins for over a decade, and the hype train could accelerate out of the station if Boston finds a way to win this game. Fluto Shinzawa gave a glowing endorsement of the team's defense in his most recent article for The Athletic.
""According to Natural Stat Trick, the Senators were expected to score 0.83 goals during five-on-five play [on Thursday night]. It was the lowest xGA the Bruins have allowed this season, following a 2.17 xGA effort in Tuesday’s 4-3 shootout win over the New York Islanders and a 1.82 xGA sparkler in a 2-1 result over the Carolina Hurricanes on Nov. 1. These were much stingier performances than the 3.76 xGA game against the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 30, which the Bruins were fortunate to win.""Fluto Shinzawa
Some integral pieces of the defense core spoke about how the group has been playing with Shinzawa and other reporters after the Ottawa Senators game. Andrew Peeke has been one of the blueliners who stepped up over the past five games, and his two assists and stingy defense on Thursday night paced the team.
“We're protecting good ice,” said Peeke. “We're winning battles. We're getting the puck out of the zone. We're a little bit cleaner in all three zones, not just the D-zone. We're protecting the middle of the ice, keeping people on the outside, and we're winning battles."
The Bruins were supposed to win games this way entering the season. Fans were left baffled early in the year when scoring was up and down the lineup, but the defense was as leaky as it had been in years, somehow even worse than it had been last season. However, Sturm told everyone to stay the course and re-assess how these Bruins looked in a few months when the system was completely implemented. The players beat Sturm's timeline by quite a margin.
The team could easily have to go back to the drawing board on Saturday night if the Leafs' league-leading offense gives them a shellacking. Nevertheless, in a season that seemed lost, the Bruins have been playing a brand of hockey that should excite fans and give them just a little hope that Sturm will lead them back to supremacy.